Mini Conference

9:30–10:00

Registration and coffee

10:00–10:15

Welcome and introduction by Astrid Hannes (Liaison Officer, vleva) and Bart Dewaele (Director-General, Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance - VVOB)

10:15–10:35

Can quality of education (at school level, at country level) be measured and compared?
Prof. em. Roger Standaert, Ghent University Belgium

10:35–10:55

Equality and equity in learning opportunities and outcomes in Finland: the role of qualified and motivated teachers
Prof. Jouni Välijärvi, Director, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

10:55–11:15

Helping EU Member States to address the challenges in mathematical education
Mr. dr. Vladimir Garkov, European Commission, DG EAC

11:15–11:45

Coffee break

11:45–12:05

Learning outcomes, school quality and equity: what is different about the Vietnamese system?
Dr. Caine Rolleston, Institute of Education, University of London

12:05–12:50

Discussion on the value of standardised tests and equity in education
Moderator: Sven Rooms, Programme Director, VVOB

The discussion will have the format of a Q&A session where the public can ask questions, voice opinions, and the speakers can provide their views and/or answers. It will be structured around two themes:

• Value of standardised tests: Assessments such as PISA offer only limited insight into skills such as creativity or critical thinking, which are considered to be very important in rapidly changing labour markets. Focusing too much on these assessments and standardised tests stimulates “teaching to the test”, and this erodes creativity and critical thinking. We should therefore not try to measure too many things, and just provide children with a good education based on best practices. Agree or disagree?
• Equity in education: How can assessments such as PISA inform policies for improving equal opportunities for all children? Should results be made public for accountability reasons?

12:50

Network sandwich lunch

Dr. Caine Rolleston is a Lecturer in Education and International Development at the Institute of Education (University of London) and a Research Associate at the Young Lives Project (University of Oxford).

He graduated from the universities of Oxford and London and has worked on education and international development in a range of countries including Ghana, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Peru, India and Sri Lanka. His research interests include issues in the economics of education in developing countries, educational access and equity, privatisation, learning metrics and trajectories, longitudinal studies in education and development, cognitive and non-cognitive skills development and survey design, employing both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Prof. Roger Standaert is Professor Emeritus in Comparative Education at the University of Ghent and former Director of the Unit for Educational Development of the Department of Education in Flanders.

After his studies in educational sciences at the University of Louvain (Belgium) he began his career as a lecturer in a teacher training college in 1969. From 1976 onwards he was appointed as project leader of a large-scale project of comprehensive education in Flanders. With co-author F. Troch he received the state prize of the best pedagogical publication on education and learning in 1980. Obtained his PhD on a comparative study about the rationality of educational policy in 1991. In the same year he was appointed as director of the newly established Unit for Educational Development at the Department of Education in Flanders. He was granted the State Prize of the Community of Flanders for his work on attainment targets and core curricula in Flanders. In 1997 he became chairman of the Consortium of Institutes for Development and Research in Education in Europe (CIDREE). In 1998 he was appointed part-time professor in comparative education at the University of Ghent (Belgium). He wrote about ten books and publications in Belgian and foreign pedagogical journals.

Prof. Jouni Välijärvi is the Director of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

He took his PhD at the University of Jyväskylä in 1993. Having worked as both a researcher and an educational administrator, he is currently Professor of Educational Research at the Institute for Educational Research. He represents Finland in the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and is the National Project Manager in Finland of the OECD PISA study. He has headed a series of international and national research projects on curriculum, school assessment, teacher education and wellbeing of students, served in a number of national and international expert groups e.g. for OECD and EU and published widely in his field.